Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief

A beautifully illustrated edition of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s poem “Washing My Mother’s Body,” which offers a way through grief when the loss appears unbearable.

As I wash my mother’s face, I tell her

how beautiful she is, how brave, how her beauty and bravery

live on in her grandchildren. Her face is relaxed, peaceful.

Her earth memory body has not left yet,

but when I see her the next day, embalmed and in the casket

in the funeral home, it will be gone.

Where does it go?

Through lyrical prose and evocative watercolor illustrations by award-winning Muscogee artist Dana Tiger, Washing My Mother’s Body explores the complexity of a daughter’s grief as she reflects on the joys and sorrows of her mother’s life. She lays her mother to rest in the landscape of her memory, honoring the hands that raised her, the body that protected her, and the legs that carried her mother through adversity.

Moving, comforting, and deeply emotional, Washing My Mother’s Body is a tender look at mother-daughter relationships, the complexity of grieving the loss of a parent, and the enduring love of those left behind.

About the Author

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, performer, and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation who has served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States. Harjo is the author of ten books of poetry, several plays, prose collections, and children's books, and two memoirs; she has also produced seven award-winning music albums and edited several anthologies. Her many honors include Yale's Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and board of directors chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is the inaugural artist-in-residence for the Bob Dylan Center.

Author Residence: Bixby, Oklahoma

Author Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Dana Tiger is an award-winning internationally acclaimed artist. She is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and is of Seminole and Cherokee descent. Tiger is best known for her watercolors and acrylic paintings depicting the strength and determination of Native American women. Tiger is an inductee into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and is the founder of Legacy Cultural Learning Community, a nonprofit that nurtures creativity in young Native Americans.

Illustrator Residence:Muskogee, Oklahoma

Illustrator Hometown:Muskogee, Oklahoma